A Land With Magic
by SevenJetC
Summary: Set after 'A Land Without Magic', this is a story of what might have happened afterwards and what roads led Regina and Emma to the place they are now.


_Eleven years ago_

Emma suspected nothing when she got into the car. Just another night, another of her 'customers'. She panicked when he took out the badge. She tried to run from the car, but it was locked. She was busted and Ben would be so angry with her for letting them catch her. She sobbed uncontrollably all the way to the police station. She was stupid, so stupid. Ben was going to kill her.

_The Fairy Tale land_

Regina felt like she was possessed. Yet, she knew she had to do this, yet it didn't make it any easier. She entered the castle, his castle, feeling weakness in her knees. Her hands were shaking. Her mouth felt dry.

It was dark inside, which went well with the heart of the man she was here to see. Briefly, she wondered if her life was ever going to be like this as well. No, no way, she would just do what she had to and it would be all.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our new young Queenie," his voice came from behind her, startling her. She spun around. "I know why are you here, dearie."

"Then you are going to help me?" There was uncertainty in her voice and she hated herself for that.

"And why should I?" he was standing too close to her now. She could smell his rotten breath and it made her nauseous. "Your mother is a powerful witch. Why don't you ask her for what you want?"

"I can't," she replied. He regarded her with crazy questioning eyes. "She can never know."

"That will cost you, dearie." He slowly walked in a circle around her.

"I know. I'm prepared to make whatever deal you propose," she turned her eye to the ground. "What will it cost me, Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Your soul," his crazy laughter echoed through the castle.

_Present day_

If Emma thought that Storybrooke under Regina's reign was bad, it was nothing compared to what Rumpelstiltskin done with the place once he released the magic. And of course, not only he released magic; he released black magic, a kind neither the fairies nor Jefferson might have used. They held numerous secret meeting, plotting the ways to fight their new lord and master, but all came in vain. Emma hated to admit that there was only one way and all of them refused to voice it. Their best chance in the fight right now was Regina.

Regina, who disappeared god knows where. When the angry mob arrived to her mansion, she was already gone. She was nowhere to be found, something that Emma attributed to the fact that she was the only one able to use the magic. Wherever she was, she certainly didn't want them to find her and Emma could very well understand her reasons. Saying that people were angry with her would be an understatement.

Right now she and David… Charming… her father… were looking for Regina in another part of the forest, a probably pointless task, but one they've been trying to complete for the past three days. She would give anything for a long hot shower and a comfortable bed in which she could sleep instead of the dirty sleeping bag and the damp ground.

She was heating a can of beans on the fire as David was looking in the map, trying to plan the sector they were going to search today. She thought it was pointless, Regina didn't seem like the type to hide in the bushes, but who knew what was going through that woman's mind. She certainly wasn't anywhere in the Storybrooke, unless she could make herself invisible, which was an alternative that Emma would not welcome. The idea that she could be in the room with them, laughing at them for trying to find her, that was just creepy.

"I think we should head south today," David proposed. She absentmindedly poked the ashes with a stick. "Emma, are you listening to me?"

"Yeah. South. Good."

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. She looked up at him. He was unshaven and about as dirty as she was. There was probably a layer of grime on them that they would be never ever able to wash off.

"No. Yes. I mean, what if we never find her? She apparently doesn't want to be found," she got up abruptly, pacing the ground. "How long do you want to stay in the forest looking for her?"

"As long as it takes, she has to be somewhere," he replied calmly, getting up to put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way, trying to stop her movement. She shook it off.

"For all we know, she could be on the other side of the planet now her curse has been broken," she waved her hands in frustration.

"I doubt that, he would never let her leave this place, not until he got even with her for locking Belle up."

"And how do you know that?" she snapped at him. He didn't, it was written all over his face. She sat down again. "Besides, there has to be other way to fight him than asking Regina for help."

"Look, Emma, I like this about as much as you do. Eat your beans. Then we pack up and look south," he sighed. They had this conversation for about thousand times in the past few days. It was tiring.

_Eleven years ago_

Emma was sitting in the interrogation room, nervously chewing on her nails. She screwed up, she really did. The detective came in, placing a cup of coffee in front of her. She muttered her thanks.

"Emma Swan, seventeen years old, orphan, no address. Well, Miss Swan, you are in a whole lot of trouble," he said, looking through the folder in front of him. She pouted, but gave no reply. In the mirror across the room she was herself, smudged makeup from her earlier crying, hair a tangled mess, pale skin, cheekbones protruding on her thin face. She was a mess, in more than one way. The detective was probably waiting for her to say something. "Look, Emma, you are young. I'm sure I could talk the DA in helping you instead of locking you up. And we have every reason to lock you up. Possession of drugs. Prostitution. You are still underage, but you are looking for at least one to two years of jail."

She didn't say anything. The lower lip of the girl in the mirror quivered. The detective shook his head. "What if you gave me the name of the guy who made you do this?"

Give him Ben's name? She couldn't do that. She loved him and he loved her. He was nice to her, took care of her. Her nice, beautiful, Ben, who gave her happiness in form of the needle. Who told her she was beautiful and sexy. No, she could never tell them about Ben. She felt her stomach tighten as a fleeting thought ran across her mind. He would kill her.

"I'm trying to help you, Emma. You tell us the guy's name and I will make sure that your life will get better. What would you say? Just a few months of rehab instead of years in jail. Think about it," his voice was soothing that she would almost believe him. She finally found the courage to answer him.

"Go fuck yourself," she watched herself snarl. The detective shook his head and left the room.


End file.
